New Set-up Advice Wanted

[Ponch]

New member here.......Background info: I just set up a 150 gallon.......it's artificially planted, w/ red flint substrate, 2 Eheim canisters, 2 250w ebo-jager heaters. I'm an experienced freshwater fish hobbyist, but not an experienced discus keeper, so I'm looking for some help.

I live in the Chicago area and have Lake Michigan water (7.5 or so ph and moderate hardness). The tank has been up for 2 days and looks great so far (don't they all after 2 days!). About 40 gallons were transferred from an established aquarium and I rinsed out sponges and filter media from other healthy aquariums into the new aquarium with the hope that this will speed up the cycling period. There are 10 gold pristella tetras and 4 various corydoras in at this time to begin the cycling. The Ebo's brought the temp to 85F quickly and, as expected at this point, no noticable traces of ammonia or nitrite yet.

This will be a discus aquarium (I hope) one day, with various shoalers, namely characidae family, some small plecos and corys. All fish will be purchased locally, so the water parameters will be the same as what I have.

I'd like some opinions/suggestions on next steps, such as when, what types and how many more cycling fish to add (characidae family suggestions, please), water change suggestions, additional filter media suggestions (I'm just using various grades of floss/sponges at this time), and any other comments/opinions/suggestions.

My local discus keeper has been a tremendous help. I just like to hear what others have to say.

Much appreciative!!!!

[dm]

Characins are really the best choice to keep with Discus but are not really a great choice to cycle with imo. When I set up my 125 gallon tank I planned ahead and added extra sponges to my filters in my other tanks to use when I got the new tank. I also added some of the gravel from another tank and when I put in the cycling fish I never even saw an Ammonia or Nitrite reading. I was kind of surprised that there was nothing but it really worked well. Of course I still had to stock it slow so the bacteria could keep up. One of the good points of having a show tank versus a barebottom is the fact that the plants will help keep the water clean longer. If done properly it works pretty well as a Dicus tank. Unfortunatly you said you were not going to use real plants. This will cause a problem. Without plants you will have to keep your tank really clean and with that size tank and a substrate it will be a big job. Most people without plants do water changes every or every other day. Please keep this in mind when making your decisions. Good luck with your tank :)

[Ponch]

Thanks Dale. I had a slight ammonia bounce last night (day 3 since set-up) of between .25 - 1.0 ppm. Nitrite is still about zero and the ph has lowered to 7.2, which I believe should be expected with the ammonia present. All pristella tetras and corys are doing well, they're eating well and no visible signs of stress.

Is 14 fish enough to start the cycling process for such a large aquarium? I eventually would like to add schools of diamond, columbian and lemon tetras. Should I try to add a half-dozen of one of those groups now to help cycle, or is it too late since the ammonia is beginning present itself? Is it smarter to add other schools after I add the discus and they've established themselves, or before to give the discus some comfort that its safe?

[ChloroPhil]

It's smarter to add your tetras first. In a 150 schools of 10 would probably be better simply because smaller groups would tend to get lost in a tank that size. Also, it's probably wise to get your discus as soon as possible and start them in a grow out tank for the next few months while your plants and system establishes itself.